Sight for rifles and other small-arms.



No. 799,206. PATENTED SEPT. 12, 1905.

L. G. P. THRING.

SIGHT FOR RIFLES AND OTHER SMALL ARMS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 13, 1905.

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LEONARD GODFREY PINNEY THRING, OF GUILDFORD, ENGLAND;

SIGHT FOR RIFLES AND OTHER SMALL-ARMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12,1905.

7 Application filed April 13, 1905. Serial No. 255,398.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LLEONARD GODFREY PIN- NEY THRING, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Ploncks Hill,

view of the object aimed at than is obtained with any non-telescopic sight atpresent in use.

In the method at present employed the back sight and fore sight are both sighted on the object aimed atthat is, the rifle is so held that the object aimed at, the fore sight, and the back sight are in one straight line, which line of course also contains the eye of the person shooting. The result of the back sight havingto be got on this line is thata portion of the light coming from the object aimed at is intercepted by the back sight on its way to the eye, thus producing a certain haziness which becomes very marked in a weak light. To remedy this. the orthoptic sight has been proposed, in which a small hole in a disk takes the place of the back sight. By my invention, however, this difficulty is overcome in a totally different manner.

I shall describe my invention with reference to a simple form of sight, and in the description which follows I shall call the line containing the eye the fore sight,and the object aimed at the line of sight. In order that the bullet may strike the object aimed at, the barrel of the gun must make a certain angle with the line of sight, depending on various considerations, such as range and wind. Now in the ordinary gun-sights as heretofore constructed this angle is determined by getting a certain point on the back sight in the manner that the shooter can select diflerent points on said sights for the purpose of .making allowance for range.

The invention also consists in the formsof sight hereinafter described.

In aiming a gun according to my invention I getthe eye, the fore sight, and the object aimed at all in one line, and the eye, the back sight, and the subsidiary sight all in another 7 line.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view of one form of my improved fore sight and subsidiary sight, while Fig. 2 is a view of a hack sight suitable for use with the same, Fig. Sbeing a view of another form of fore sight and subsidiary sight, and Fig. 4 a back sight intended to be used with the sights shown in Fig. 3.

Now it is clear that the point selected on the back sight may be an aperture which is made to coincide with an opaque portion or an aperture in the subsidiary sight, or an opaque'portion of the back sight may be made to cover an aperture or opaque portion in the subsidiary arrange them vertically above one another to a subsidiary sight, taking care that the apertures and opaque portions forming the back sight are of such a size as optically to register with the opaque portions or apertures forming the subsidiary sight. Also I may arrange the apertures 'or opaque portions of the subsidiary sight horizontally or both vertically and horizontally. The result of having a series of such apertures or opaque portions in the sights is that the shooter can select a particular point on theback sight and aline it with a particular point on the subsidiary sight and can thus make allowance for range, windage, &c.

I prefer to so arrange my opaque portions or apertures on the back sight .which have to coincide with the apertures or opaque portions on the subsidiary sight as to obtain what I calla balance. Iwill explain what I mean by this by reference to a concrete instance. Suppose that a particular point on the back sight is formed by the intersection of two opaque lines and I form the aperture in the subsidiary sight as asquare. Then Ican accuance thehorizontal line across the vertical edge of" the disk for vertical position and the vertical line across the horizontal edges of the disk for horizontal position.

A similar effect to that produced by apertures can be obtained bya light-colored paint or its equivalent, and this method may be used where practicable.

In the arrangement I have illustrated in.

Figs. 1 and 2 the subsidiary sight at is in one piece with the fore s ght 6 and is formed in the shape of a vertical bar with horizontal teeth 0 c d d (Z. of which alternate teeth 0 0 are longer than the others, as shown in Fig. 1, a vertical bar e extends upward to the same height as the subsidiary sight on the left-hand edge of the sight. A light-colored vertical band to may be painted or otherwise applied to the subsidiary sight to render the teeth on the back sight more visible in a bad light.

The back sight f consists of a plate fixed to the barrel in any convenient manner, preferably on a hinge, so that it is capable of lying along the barrel. A long vertical rectangular slot is cut in the left-hand side of the plate, projecting teeth g being left on the right-hand edge of the slot and also one or more teeth it A: on the left-hand edge. In this arrangement the person shooting places the fore sight in the line between the object and the eye and alines the gun so that the whole of the fore sight and subsidiary sight can be seen centrally between the edges of the vertical slot in -the back sight-that is to say, he turns the gun about a vertical axis until equal spaces are seen between the outside edges of the subsidiary sight and the edges of the vertical slot in the back sight, and thus obtains a balance. To obtain the correct elevation, the shooter, keeping the fore sight on the object and preserving the balance already obtained, arranges one of the horizontal teeth g of the back sight so as to cover one of the horizontal teeth 0 0 (Z (Z d on the subsidiary sight, as may be desired.

By arranging that two long teeth or two short teeth of the subsidiary sight are seen at equal distances on each side of a horizontal tooth on the back sight a balance is obtained which determines the angle of elevation of the gun, or I may balance a horizontal tooth on the back sight between any two teeth of the subsidiary sight.

In order to sight the gun for the shortest range, the person shooting balances the low est of-the-bars g of the back sighton the central tooth d of the subsidiary sight. For a slightly longer range he would balance the same tooth of the back sight on the lower tooth 0 of the subsidiary sight. For a still longer range the same tooth of the back sight would be balanced on the lowest tooth (Z of the subsidiary sight, and the distances between the teeth of the sights are so arranged that when the lowest tooth of the back sight is balanced on the lowest tooth of the subsidiary sight the second tooth on the back sight is balanced on the highest tooth d of the subsidiary sight. For longer ranges the person shooting would first use the second tooth of theback sight and take the teeth of the fore sight in order downward and for increasing ranges the third tooth from the bottom of the back sight, and so on. The teeth h k are provided to assist the person shooting in the rapid selection of the proper tooth of the back sight to be used for any particular range. I thus obtain a very large number of sighting-points and a convenient means of sighting for small differences of range.

The whole face of the fore sight and the left-hand side of the back sight are preferably of a dark color, and the back sight may conveniently be marked with the different ranges on its right-hand side.

The arrangement above described is the one which I have found to be the best and which I prefer to use; but I may vary the details of my sighting means and still obtain good results. One such variation I have shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In this arrangement the subsidiary sight 5 is in one piece with the fore sight m and is formed as a vertical bar with horizontal teeth a of rectangular form with projections 1 1 at their angles. On the left-hand side the vertical bar Z carries a horizontal projection having a rectangular plate 0 at its end, the plate 0 being notched,as shown atp. Lightcolored disks 2 may be fixed to the plate 0 on the side nearest the eye. The back sight q consists of a plate fixed to the barrel as in the previous modification. Vertical slots one above the other, with projections r s t, are cut in the plate, three projections being shown in each slot, the projections difiering in shape, as shown in Fig. 4, for convenience in selection by the person shooting. In this arrangement the person shooting places the fore sight in the line between the object and the eye and alines the part of the back sight which is between the slots and the left-hand edge centrally across the rectangular plate 0, so as to obtain a balance.

For elevation the person shooting, as in the previous modification, arranges one of the projections r s t of the back sight so as to cover one of the teeth a or spaces between the teeth of the subsidiary sight, and thus obtains a balance. It will be seen that in this modification, as in that first described,

if the subsidiary sight .is near the muzzle of the gun equal distances in a vertical line on the subsidiary sight will correspond with very much smaller differences of range than the same distances on the back sight, and I prefer to make the two sights of such proportions and to so place them that the distance between two consecutive apertures or opaque portions on the back sight corresponds with the distance between the extreme apertures or opaque portions of the subsidiary sight. For a short range the person shooting would select the lowest aperture or opaque portion on the back sight and the central aperture or opaque portion on the subsidiary sight and for steadily increasing ranges would take the apertures or opaque portions on the subsidiary sight in order downward to the bottom and-would then proceed in the same Way, using the next higher aperture or opaque portion on the back sight, but starting from the highest aperture or opaque portion on the subsidiary sight. The central aperture or opaque portion on the subsidiary sight is used for the'point-blank range as be- 4 or space between teeth on the subsidiary sight I can obtain a very fine adjustment of sighting and that the arrangement of the various points which may be used for sighting is such that confusion will not arise as to the points which the shooter has selected for a given range. I

Having now described my invention, what I claim. as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1'. A sighting device comprising in combination, a subsidiary sight outside the line of sight having a number of definite sightingpoints, and a back sight outside the line of sight also having a number of definite sighting-points, as and for the purposes described.

2. Asighting device, comprising in combination, a fore sight, adapted to be brought into the line between the eye and the object aimed at, and" a back sight and subsidiary sight outside of said line, substantially as described.

3. A sighting device, comprising in combination, a fore sight adapted to be brought into the line between the eye and the object aimed at, and a back sight and subsidiary sight outside of said line, said back sight and subsidiary sight being provided with a numher of definite sighting-points,substantially as described.

4. A sighting devlce, comprising in comblnation, a fore sight adapted to be brought the eye and theobject aimed at, a back sight and subsidiary sight outside of said straight line, and means for obtaining a number of sighting-points corresponding with small differences of range, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LEONARD GODFREY IINNEYTHRING.

Witnesses:

GERARD MosnLY, JAMns SMITH. 

